For many years the high spot of the village social calendar was Carnival Week. The old Carnival back in the 1930’s were known as Hospital Carnivals. This was because the funds raised from them were donated to local hospitals and ambulance services. In those pre-national health days, hospital boards relied heavily on self-finance and donations to maintain a service. In 1938 the then handsome sum of £100 was raised by the Carnival for the hospital fund. A children’s Christmas party was also financed from the Carnival proceeds.
A hard working Committee of villagers planned and organized the events, Mrs. Gregory Rose-Innes being the President for many years. Carnival Week was always held at the end of August, this being a time well before the Bank Holiday was moved to that date.
Carnival Saturday was the start of several days of events which by and large kept to similar format each year; it ran something like this. The start of the festivities began with the assembling of the fancy dress parade at the Green, in front of the War Memorial. The procession then left there for the Maynard Arms led by the Grindleford Silver Band. The route was via the laundry, where the procession did an about turn to go back along Main Road and over the bridge up to the Maynard. The parade would include many decorated vehicles, lorries, cars, bikes and prams.
On arrival at the Maynard, the parade would regroup on the lawns for the afternoon’s entertainments. The Carnival Queen, surrounded by her entourage, would be crowned by a local dignitary. Then followed maypole dancing, which was a very strong tradition in Grindleford, as several teams of dancers competed with each other. The fancy dress would be judged and prizes awarded. There would be a host of stalls and sideshows, featuring many old favourites such as the treasure hunt, bran tub, hoop-la, apple-bobbing, darts and fortune-telling. A gents’ knobbly-knees competition would always provide a good laugh which would be followed by a ladies ankle competition, very risqué stuff!
On the evening of Carnival Day a torch-light procession would leave the playing fields en route for the Maynard, where the Grand Carnival Dance was held. In the programme for the 1936 Carnival admission to the dance was advertised as 1/-(5p), dancing was to the White Rhythm Band from 9.00 p.m. to 12 midnight (last train to Sheffield 11.33 p.m.).
On the Sunday after Carnival Day there would be a United Open Air Service, usually held in the playing fields. Later in the day there would be a Band Concert featuring our own Silver Band plus a visiting band from a neighbouring village. Monday night would see a Comic Cricket Match, played on the old cricket field alongside Haywood, just above what is now Pinegrove. This match was Ladies versus Gentleman and the girls had to dress up as men and vice versa. It was guaranteed to provide plenty of hilarity with some of the characters who took part. The result was immaterial, as long as the Ladies won!
On Tuesday there would be more Maypole Dancing, this time on the lawns of the Sir William, by kind permission of Mr. and Miss Outram. There would be an Open Tournament at the Tennis Club, which had courts by the riverside on the old playing field. Children’s sports were held on Wednesday night in Gill’s Field (now the Bridge Field) and were presided over by Wilf Grace. Gill’s Field was also the site for the fairground, which would stay for the whole week, sometimes part of the fair would be accommodated over the bridge on the Grinsey.
A Select Whist Drive was held on the Thursday night – no riff-raff allowed! This was always a serious affair, as there were cash prizes to be won and there was much rivalry between the card-players. Woe betides anyone who dropped the wrong card. On Friday night one of the Carnival’s main attractions was held. This was the Boat Race on the river. Large crowds were always attracted to this event to see the flotilla of colourful home-made boats with their crews of unlikely looking sailors providing some great entertainment.
Carnival time was a great opportunity for the village to let its hair down, and this the locals did in fine style. In those days there was no television and people had to make the most of their own entertainment. The many colourful characters in Grindleford certainly did that, excelling themselves in fancy dress and practical jokes.
The procession from the Green up to the Maynard was led by the Grindleford Silver Band, at the head of which was Parade Leader Harry Preston. Harry was a leading light in the Carnival Committee and the Band, so it was felt fitting that he should have his big day each year by leading the parade. He would dress up for the job in a tail-coat, waistcoat, tall-shiner, spats and white gloves. He marched proudly at the front twirling a silver-knobbed cane. He really looked smart in his outfit and perhaps because of this he would attract quite a bit of stick from the wags in the crowd watching. One year Harry led the parade down Bridge Lane from the Green and instead of turning right at the bottom for the laundry, he turned left to go down the village. He was on his own, for the band and the rest of the parade didn’t follow his lead, but took the correct route.
Another year Harry was in
his usual place at the front but instead of being followed immediately
behind him by the band, there was a troupe of girl majorettes. They had
to go in front of the band because they went along much faster than the
puffing bandsmen could march, and they didn’t want to be slowed
down and lose their tempo. Just as Harry was going round the corner at
the top of Bridge Lane, by the school, he tried a complicated twirl with
his cane. In attempting this he knocked his top-hat off and it fell onto
the road behind him. The lively majorettes were following up fast and
before they realized it they were trampling over Harry’s topper.
They then began to play football with it, kicking it to one another as
Harry desperately tried to pick it up!
Carnival Day 1951 – ‘Spider’ blows off (front right)
Harry Preston is not leading the parade this year – He is in the band – not in uniform and minus hat!
John’s most famous victory in this blue ribbon event was the year when he caught a giant cod in the Derwent. He had carefully planned this clever joke after he had been in the Sheffield Fish Market. There he had seen an exceptionally large, whole cod on display, with the boat race in mind he decided to buy the fish. When he built his boat he hid the monster fish, with its huge staring eyes and silvery tail in a secret compartment on board. As he approached the finish at the bridge he was well in front of the other boats. The tightly packed crowd were cheering him onto victory when he suddenly dropped anchor. He carefully took the fish from its hiding place and slipped it down the front of his shirt. He then cried “Man Overboard!” and dived into the water. He surfaced with fish in his hands and then proceeded to wrestle with it, much as Tarzan would with a crocodile. The crowd went wild with delight. One of our young boys really thought that John had caught the fish in the river! Afterwards he took his ‘catch’ home, filleted it and his family enjoyed a hearty supper of fresh cod, straight from the Derwent!
The Boat Race could be a very hazardous affair, as the river is very deep in parts, especially just behind Toll Bar Garage, and there are many jagged rocks hidden just below the surface. This would not deter the intrepid men of Grindleford, who were determined to take part in the race, even when they could not swim.
One chap who was a bit apprehensive about taking part was George Stone. He was Sam White’s tractor driver at Goatscliffe Farm and was a popular village character. He desperately wanted to have a bash in the boat race, but as he couldn’t swim was understandably a bit shy of the affair. In addition to this he was a bit deaf and was afraid of getting water in his ear holes and worsening his affliction. His mate Geoff Vaughan did eventually persuade George to take part one year, after he had built a boat with George’s safety in mind. It was basically a door with a seat at the back for Geoff and a large piece of fine mesh chicken wire covering the front. The wire was fastened loosely to three sides of the door and the plan was for George to slide underneath the wire. He would then be perfectly safe, for he couldn’t fall in the river, protected by the safety net of chicken wire.
The plan seemed to be working well as the boat set off with Geoff at the helm and George safely below deck in the wire. Suddenly the boat hit a submerged rock which threw Geoff off his seat and into the river. The boat then shot up in the air and landed back in the water upside down, with poor George trapped underneath in the chicken wire. After the initial hilarity of the incident had subsided, it was soon realized that George was trapped in the wire and was in grave danger of drowning. Several rescuers jumped into the river and hauled him and the capsized craft out to safety. That was enough sailing for George. He never entered the boat race again and would blame his deafness on “A head full o’ that damn river watter”.
Carnival time was soon over and the village settled back into its normal routine. Harvest time was now approaching and that meant plenty of hard work ahead.
Daltons "Five Bob" Special (what ever that was all about) travels past the rag tag orchestra on Carnival Day circa 1950s
